good wednesday morning. coming up on "early today," breaking news in alabama where police are negotiating with a gunman holding a 6-year-old hostage after shooting and killing a bus driver. major reaction to the president's immigration overhaul and determination to fast track new laws. hillary clinton talks about her greatest failure as secretary of state. bizarre weather patterns causing major problem troubles. and a war veteran's life-changing arm operation. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for wednesday, january 30th, 2013. good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo. we begin with the developing story out of alabama this

morning where a school bus driver has been shot and killed and a 6-year-old child is missing. authorities say shortly after 3:30 tuesday afternoon a man reportedly boarded a school bus in dale county, alabama when a bus driver would not release the child to his custody. the unidentified man shot the driver and left with the young child. there are reports that the man is holding the 6-year-old. but police will not confirm the hostage situation. many in washington are still reacting to president obama's immigration speech in las vegas yesterday where he said now is the time to fix what he called a broken system. republicans are only willing so far to compromise on the issue. nbc's tracie potts joins us live. >> reporter: hi, mara. good morning. now on capitol hill begins the process what could be a tedious process of sorting out what is is different for the president's proposal after the speech yesterday and also with the

bipartisan group of lawmakers, democrats and republicans came up with the broad principles here appear to be the same. beefing up the borders and the pass to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in this country. but neither plan has full details at this point. and it raises a lot of questions, for example, how long will this immigration process take? lawmakers want to make sure border security happens first. the president did not mention that. so that could make a difference in how long it actually takes to get this path to citizenship under way. the other big issue, same-sex immigrant couples would have the same rights to apply for citizenship under the president's plan, according to the white house. that is not something we expect conservatives would back. not in the senate and especially not in the republic cab-controlled house so we've still got some hurdles to overcome here. >> tracie potts in washington,

thanks so much. john kerry is officially headed to the state department. tuesday, the senate voted 94-3 as secretary of state. senator kerry submitted his let of resignation to massachusetts governor deval patrick. secretary of state hillary clinton sat down with nbc's andrea mitchell. secretary clinton talked about plans for her future and reflected on her time in office. >> what do you think didn't go well? what went wrong? >> well, benghazi went wrong. you know, that was a terrible example of trying to get the right balance between being in a threatening place or not being there. >> reporter: when she campaigned against barack obama she said she was better prepared to

handle world crisis. >> there's a phone in the white house that is ringing. >> when that phone call rings at 4:00 in the morning who is best prepared to answer it in 2016? >> well, that is to be decided by the american people. one thing i've learned the phone rings day and night. >> reporter: but after a fall damaged her left eye with a special prism will health be a factor? >> i'm healthy enough and my stamina is good enough i'll be fully recovered to do whatever i choose to do. but i don't have any decisions made. new developments overseas as south korea successfully launched its first rocket. seoul has tried and failed numerous times to put a satellite into space in its own territory but today surrounded by a billowing plume of smoke the narrow one rocket blasted off from the country's southern coast. turning now to queensland, australia where massive flooding from a cyclone has force 70,000

people from their homes. about 1,000 people had to be rescued by helicopter. there's no power in the region and they've been warned to be careful about the drinking water. and our weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning. >> good morning. >> it's like a ping-pong, it's bad, it's cold, what's going on? >> tennessee and kentucky have seen the worst of it. we've had about three tornado reports. we've had about 195 total updated for you live there. newly notice the concentration overnight had been through arkansas, louisiana and the ohio river. abdomen storms are starting to plow their way right across kentucky and especially tennessee. these are all tornado warnings heading right over nashville. thankfully, those storms have weakened a little bit over louisville and bowling green but those are going to slide over the east coast today. an area of greater concern, the

area of yellow today, everyone here has a chance of severe storms, damaging winds. it will only last about 30 minutes or less but when that line of storms comes through you'll feel it and you'll want to seek shelter. atlanta, heading through pittsburgh, west virginia, and then afternoon traveling through much of the carolinas. again, all eyes, best chance of tornadoes is in the state of tennessee. thankfully, no fatalities overnight. we'll talk about the snowstorm going on in the northern plains later. that's a look at the national forecast. now a look outside your window. >> so we have the snow on the back side of the storm, too. we have winter storm warnings that extend pretty much from iowa all the way up to wisconsin. we could see as much as six inches of snow today. a lot of travel at the airports is go to come a disast. the high winds with the storm system, trying to fly in the eastern half of the country today is going to be a major challenge. >> bad news for travelers. well, a 16-mile stretch of

the mighty mississippi is closed halting trade for dozens of ships. and we'll tell you which business stories are worth keeping an eye on today. plus, new york city billionaire mayor just gave vice president biden a compliment that any man could be proud of. details in two minutes. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. the death toll has risen to 234 in the brazil nightclub fire with many survivors still hospitalized including about 75 in critical condition. investigators say the pyrotechnic flare used during the band's performance that apparently started the fire was for outdoor use only. a 60-mile stretch of the mississippi river is still closed as crews try to clean up leaking crude oil spilled in a barge accident sunday. google maps used to show a vast blank area for north korea,

the most shutoff nation in the modern world but after google chairman eric schmidt visited it detailed enough to see pyongyang and the concentration camps. a medical miracle story of a u.s. army veteran who lost all four of his limbs and underwent a roarkable translate procedure. six weeks ago brendan marrocc received new arms. >> now, i can move this. this arm is pretty much no movement at all. not yet. >> marrocco said he's getting a second chance and his goal is to compete in sports but most of all drive his car. and new york city mayor bloomberg has high praise for

joe biden. he said you know, joe biden, you can say what you want but he's got a set of -- the dow rising 72 points yesterday. the s&p and nasdaq were mixed. overseas trading saw a boost. nikkei shot up 270 points while the hang seng climbed 156. it's a busy morning on wall street. we'll see if amazon stock continues to rise. also keep an eye on chesapeake today the energy company got news, aubreay mcclendon is stepping down and will leave the april 1st. >> lots of eyes will be on research in motion when the blackberry 10 is released at 10:00 this morning. investors could be digesting some grim economic news today. investors believed economic

growth went sharply to 1.3% down from 3.2 in the first quarter. for the first time microsoft is rolling out a subscription service. office 365 will be available. and the boeing batteries before the fleet was grounded the 787s. officials at nippon said they had to relays ten batteries in their planes. no flights were canceled. a u.s. judge in new orleans has accepted a 403 billion agreement for the disaster. how about a beer wash down your twinkie the owners of apollo global are reportedly close to a $400 million deal. for hostess and other cakes. congratulations to manchester united, a $3 billion valuation. the highest of any team in the world. the dallas cowboys are a distant

second. and here's a solution for an air problem. canned air, in china, reportedly selling fresh air in cans for $15 a pop. straight ahead, media day for the ravens and 49ers, had a few surprises including randy moss' pick for the greatest wide receiver ever. plus, a courtroom guest leaves fast. another reason smoking could be deadly and getting ready to feed the troops on super sunday. a power storm and also a winter storm. look at the wind over iowa. details coming up. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. we start in ohio where a courtroom attack was captured on camera. a man went on a rampage as his ex-girlfriend was seeking an order of protection against him. the attacker shoved his own grandmother as he chased the victim and beat her until police subdued him with a stun gun. next to texas and a couple in a storage facility. the pair were tress passion when they decided to light up over the storage container. flames erupted causing both to suffer critical injury pns.

in florida, nik wallenda battled heavy winds as he cleated his 600-foot trek across a 200-foot tight rope. even more amazing the daredevil performed the high-wire act without a safety harness. in chicago slices of home were shipped from the windy city to thousands of service men and women in kuwait and after gap stan. they teamed up to send the troops a massive order of deep dish pizza scheduled to arrive just in siem for super bowl sunday. and a special delivery in afghanistan. serviceman andrew wall shipped his four-legged friend after finding him on the streets. wall returns home at the end of february. that's a ducky dog. turning to sports. new allegations again a-rod. major league baseball is investigating reports that alex rodriguez bought human growth hormones from a clinic in florida.

the miami times said four other major league players appear in records of the clinics. a spokesman said quote, any documents released in the story at least as they relate to alex rodriguez are not legitimate. baltimore ravens linebacker ray lewis who will retire after the super bowl also denied using a substance for a torn acl in october. randy moss of the san francisco 49ers said he is the best wide receiver to ever play in the national football league. not true but good for his ego. to college basketball, number 11 ohio state got 29 points from deshone thomas of wisconsin and the buckeyes defeated the badgers 58-49. if you want a cake for your super bowl party on sunday how about one in the shape of colin kaepernick's arm. it's available from a bakery in modest toe, california. and a bride-to-be in baltimore will be wearing a

wedding gress in ravens purple in new orleans. she waited until the ravens returned to the super bowl to get married. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by just for men autostop. gray is over. just ahead, johnny and turtle. entourage is off to the screen. plus, which one of these is steve jobs and which one sashton kuchar? this is "early today" on nbc.

welcome back. we're still tracking those

severe storms from kentucky all the way through tennessee to mississippi. but we're also concerned with what's going on happen on the north side of the storm, with falling temperatures and boulevard winds and gusts through almost all of iowa including the des moines area. this is all heading for madison, green bay, milwaukee. you're going to end up with three to six inches of snow. and lake-effect on the back side of this. so be careful, everyone. on the eastern seaboard today. a wild, windy day with the storms rolling through. >> all right, thanks so much, bill. well, turning now to entertainment, the "30 rock" series finale got more delicious. ben and jerry's will introduce an ice cream flavor. speaking of jack donahue, e news is reporting he and his wife are expecting their first

child. a close friend of elaria's said it's true. warner brothers has reportedly given the go ahead to the movie version of "entourage" the hit show about an upand coming movie stars. the deals have been made. >> "sex and the city" was the first movie. jim nabors best known as tv's gomer pyle officially tied the knot. the two moved to honolulu to washington state. and justin bieber and a photo touching a young woman on his fansite. but they say it's not him. a middle-aged steve jobs. and the resemblance is uncanny. that's amazing. i had a little trouble in that role, but he's convinced me.

>> a little buttive good hair -- whatever they do with plastics. the next one comes from kcb news in lubbock, texas one man went online to win the girl of his dreams. >> look at yourself. now back at yourself, now back to you. sadly, you aren't me, but you could be with me this saturday. >> luke guffy, as modest as he is, received a shocking reply after he asked miss texas to a military ball on youtube. >> luke, get excited because i'll be able to meet you. >> i'm mara schiavocampo, and this is "early today," this, your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

and here it is. take a look at this scene. emergency crews everywhere on the beltway at this hour. a serious accident involving a fire truck a tractor-trailer and an suv apparently. all but one lane of the outer loop blocked at route 50 in prince george's county. want to go to danella. >> this is a live picture of the accident scene right now. if you're taking the beltway. it was shut down at one point. this is inner and outer loop at 50. you can get by now but just the right lane is going to get you by. we're tracking this in the first 4 traffic office. what's happening is the crash

reportedly involves a fire truck, as well as a tractor-trailer. it seems melissa mollet is standing by live at the accident scene. she's actually setting up her shop. here's what's happening. as we know, a fire truck, a tractor-trailer. you couldn't get on the inner or outer loop of the beltway. that seems resolved. just getting by single file to the right lane. aaron and eun. >> mdanella thank you. as soon as pm melissa mollet is established. i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. welcome to this january 30, 2013. a boy is in serious condition after being hit by a car in green belt, maryland. chopper 4 was over the scene. this happened off route 193 and breezewood drive. the boy was with his father at the time. the driver stayed on the sc